


In Sickness and in Health

by flyingorfalling



Series: Being Your Mother [4]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: AU, F/M, Fluff, Mom!Pepper, Parent Pepper Potts, Post-Endgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:42:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24706282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flyingorfalling/pseuds/flyingorfalling
Summary: Morgan is sick and all she wants is her mama.
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Series: Being Your Mother [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1420483
Comments: 6
Kudos: 56





	In Sickness and in Health

**Author's Note:**

> This was a prompt. I hope you all like it.

Pepper came into the bathroom and stood close beside him. She rested her head against his shoulder. Her arm snaked around his waist, and she sighed, long and deeply.

“How is she?”

“Back asleep. Finally.”

“Thank God!” Tony slid his hand down her arm to clasp her fingers and put his other hand on the small of her back, drawing her closer.

“I gotta go,” she said, tilting her head to kiss his cheek, and when he looked at her, she pecked him, smiling against his lips.

“You can’t leave me, Pepper.” His eyes were pits of concern, and his face looked drawn from worry and stress.

“Honey, you’ll be okay,” she reassured him with a smile. “Just call me if there’s an emergency.” She stole one last glance at herself in the mirror and adjusted her hair, then turned around to face him. “And I mean a _real_ emergency, like her temperature rising, not you running out of tea.”

“I don’t know if I can do this,” Tony said, “She’s been sick for days and—“

“Tony...” Taking his face in her hands, Pepper kissed him gently. “Everything will be fine, okay? She’ll be asleep for at least another hour, and when she wakes up, I’m sure she just wants breakfast and a movie, so there’s nothing for you to worry about, trust me.”

Tony closed his eyes to the touch of her lips against his forehead, and sighed. “I trust you,” he replied. “I just don’t trust that flu.”

Pepper laughed softly.

“It’s been killing me!”

“Don’t be such a baby,” she said, smirking. “Be a man, darling.” He harrumphed, and it made her chuckle. “I’ll be back by four. Love you.”

“Love you too.” Tony watched, as she walked out the door, then called after her, “Tonight I’ll show you how much of a man I am.”

“I can’t wait!” she called back, laughing.

A few hours later, when she was having a board meeting, her assistant Jenna poked her head in, looking very uncomfortable, and cleared her throat before she spoke, “I’m sorry, Pepper, it’s—“

“I know,” Pepper said, sighing. “What does he want?”

“He’s been calling non-stop. Something about Morgan? Do you want to take it here or...?”

“No, definitely not.” Pepper got up from her chair and gave everyone in the room an apologetic look. “Excuse me, gentlemen, but I really have to take this. Sick child,” she explained in just a few words and walked out the door. “How many times did he call?” she asked, as she headed to her office, with Jenna walking right next to her.

“About five times.”

“Fi—” She combed her fingers through her hair, trying not to worry. “Do you know what’s wrong? Did she throw up again? Is it the fever? Did he say anything about having to rush her to the hospital?”

Jenna shook her head. “No, he just said... He said he needed to talk to you. That it was urgent.”

“It better be,” Pepper mumbled. “Put my husband‘s call through to my office,” she said to her receptionist, as she swung open the door.

“He’s already on line one.”

“Of course he is.” Pepper laughed, rolling her eyes a little. Then she sat down at her desk and took the call.

“Oh my God, Pep! I tried calling you on your cell, but it went straight to voice mail, so I tried calling Allie and then Jenna, and—“

“What’s wrong?”

“You need to come home.”

“But I’m at work.”

“Our daughter is sick.”

“Yeah, I know that. That’s why I told you to call me if there’s an emergency. Is this an emergency, Tony?”

“No, she’s fine. Well, uh, apart from the fever, coughing, and— Pep, you don’t understand. All she wants is her mama.” He could read volumes into the silence at the other end. She was obviously thinking it over, while at the same time cursing him for making her worry. “She won’t let me see her, like, the second I open the door to her room she screams for you. I don’t know what’s wrong with her. Please come and rescue me... Please!”

“I tell you what’s wrong with her,” Pepper said, “She’s taking after you. That’s why she’s so cranky when she’s sick,” and Tony could hear the smile in her voice. “It’s probably just a phase, babe.”

“This _phase_ has been going on for two hours, Pepper. I even tried inviting Gerald to cheer her up.”

“You took the alpaca inside the house?”

“I _tried_ ,” he corrected her.

“I have a very important meeting later. I can’t just leave.”

“What kind of meeting could be more important than your daughter?”

“Oh, c’mon, Tony. That’s not fair. You know how hard it was for me to leave her like that.” She sighed deeply. “Elon and I are having lunch together, and he canceled on me so many times. It can’t wait. But I promise you I’ll be home as—“

“I didn’t know you and Musk were still talking.”

“Don’t act so surprised. You know he’s part of the footprint coalition.”

“Yeah, I know,” he mumbled. “What I _didn’t_ know is that you two were having lunch dates.“

“You’re so cute when you’re jealous,” she said, smirking.

“I-I’m not—“ Tony gave a bit of a grunt and a sniff. “I’m not jealous.”

“Of course not,” Pepper replied, biting her lip not to laugh.

“It’s just that you and I never had a lunch date,” he argued.

“Oh, so all the times you and I had sex in my office don’t count as a _date_?”

“Um, no... I mean, I-I’m talking about eating out.” He paused, realizing what he’d just said, and it was like he could hear her eyebrows go up and her smirk widen, so he added, “Not _that_ , Pepper. An actual meal.”

She chuckled. “You seriously wanna take me out for lunch? You mean you would leave the comfort of our house and drive to New York _just_ to have lunch with me?”

“Of course I would.” He almost sounded offended that she assumed it was such a big deal for him to do this. “I’m your husband.”

Pepper tried not to laugh at the small wave of indignation that swept over him. Whatever was going on at home with their daughter really had him on edge. This was definitely not the best time to tease him or make jokes. He was all tensed up.

“Relax, honey,” she said, smiling. Beneath her fingers the gold of her wedding band felt smooth and warm. She looked at the ring, and her smile grew. “I just think that’s really sweet of you, and I’d be happy to have lunch with you some day.”

There was a moment of silence, and then he spoke, “What if _I_ go to lunch with Elon Musk?”

Now, Pepper really couldn’t help but laugh. “You would go to lunch with the man who—“

“Is one of the most annoying people on the planet? Yes!” he interrupted her. “If it means you’re coming home to take care of our daughter... Besides, I’d much rather he has lunch with a person who loathes him than with my wife.”

* * *

When she arrived at the lake house, he was already waiting for her on the patio, looking like a wounded puppy. “Thank God you’re here to save me from the little monster.”

“Tony!” she scolded him, “Our daughter is not a monster. She’s just sick.”

“She hates me!” Tony went straight into her arms. He drew a heavy breath of relief and sighed it out against her chest, nestling his face into her.

Pepper could feel all the tension leave his body as she put her hands up his back and lay her chin on his head. A smile pulled up at the corners of her mouth. “That’s it, baby,” she whispered. “Just relax.” She let him rest for a minute, then she asked him where Morgan was, and he just mumbled the word bedroom. “You did great, honey.”

“I’m the worst dad ever!”

“No, you’re not,” Pepper said, as she rubbed his back. “Our daughter just happens to be a lot like you.”

“Then how come _I_ can stand me but she can’t?”

She laughed softly. “There was a time when you couldn’t stand yourself, remember? It’ll pass.”

“Yeah, okay... you have a point. So where’s this lunch I’m supposed to be at?”

“Plugged the address into the car’s GPS. Just promise me to drive safely. You’re obviously under a lot of stress.” She pulled back and smiled at him as she cupped his face and stroked his cheeks with her thumbs. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Tony kissed her with a long passionate but slow kiss, with that mind-blowing tenderness that had captured her heart so completely. His fingers caressed her face, and when he looked at her, the love in his eyes came pouring out in a huge smile. “I love you,” he rasped softly. “I really love you.”

“I really love you too,” she said, half smirking, half smiling. “Now go... And be nice to him.”

“I’m always nice,” he replied, laughing, as he walked to the car. “Especially to people who have a thing for my wife.”

Pepper looked at him, grinning. He was such a fool. A complete idiot. But she was happy to know he was hers. Her man, her best friend and husband, the father of her child—the child that could be just as demanding and grumpy as him, especially when she was sick.

She went directly to her daughter’s bedroom, and was surprised to find it empty. It took her a second to figure out that Tony had probably meant their bedroom. The door made soft creaking noises as she opened it, and she realized quickly that she was wrong to assume Morgan was asleep.

“No,” she screamed. “Go away! I want Mommy!”

In the broad daylight, Pepper could see her daughter’s small figure hiding under the covers, her stuffed alpaca lying on the floor. The fact she had settled on her side of the bed, not Tony’s, made Pepper smile, and she halted for a moment, just looking at the small hill Morgan had created. Then she walked over, and the child kept complaining that she did not want to watch a movie or play a game unless he made Mommy come home.

“Mommy’s here, baby,” Pepper whispered, as she picked the stuffed animal up from the floor and put it on the nightstand.

Turning around, Morgan poked her head out. Her face looked suspicious as though she thought her father was imitating her mother’s voice to soothe her, and Pepper figured it would not be surprising to know Tony had really done that.

“Mommy!” Morgan cried out, reaching for her mother.

Pepper bent down to take her into her arms. She hugged her daughter tightly to her chest, rubbing her back like she had rubbed Tony’s before, and then she scooped her up and carried her to the en-suite bathroom.

“My body aches,” the little girl whined as she was put down, and the look in her eyes pierced Pepper to the core. She hated to know that her child was hurting, to literally see the pain in her eyes.

“I know,” she said, sighing.

She turned on the water in the bathtub and checked it with her hands to make sure it was not too hot. Then she started taking off Morgan’s pajamas.

“Mommy’s gonna give you a nice long bath now and then some medicine that will make you feel better, okay?”

“What about you?”

“What do you mean?” Pepper asked, smiling. “Are you saying you want me to join you?”

Morgan nodded.

“Well, I could really use a bath, too.”

Pepper got in first, with her hair pinned up to keep it dry. She stretched out in the bath, resting her head back on the foam pillow. Morgan settled herself between her legs, leaning against her mother. Pepper wrapped an arm diagonally across her chest and kissed the top of her head.

“Mommy?”

“Yes, love?” Pepper murmured. She could stay in this bath forever. It was perfect. The only thing missing was Tony.

“Did we have baths when I was in your tummy?”

“A lot of them,” she answered with a smile. “My back really hurt when I was pregnant with you, so one day, when I was very cranky, your daddy let the tub fill up, tossed in a handful of bath salts and told me to get in. And I realized that the hot water was really helping me with the pain so we had a bath twice a week.”

“Daddy too?”

“Yes, Daddy was always with us.” She smirked, thinking of all the times where Tony had distracted her from the pain by getting her high on sex—they should really do it again sometime.

Pepper washed Morgan’s hair, playing around once in a while, putting bubbles on her nose. The laughter sounded sweet coming from her daughter. She loved the hugs and kisses she was getting.

“Close your eyes,” she said, and rinsed the shampoo away with clear, warm water from the handheld sprayer connected to the faucet, and washed her face slowly with a clean washcloth and the face soap she always used. When she was done, she looked at her daughter and smiled. “How’s that? Feeling any better?”

With a mischievous smile, the little girl drew back her arm and sent a big splash of water flying at her mother’s face. Pepper gave a small startled yelp. Morgan laughed and splashed her again.

Pepper’s eyes flashed vengefully when she blinked the water out of it. “Oh, this means war,” she hissed, playfully, and then splashed her daughter heavily with the bath water. The girl splashed her back with gusto, and a noisy water fight ensued. With one last splash, Pepper bounded out of the water, grabbed one of the big soft towels, and began to dry herself.

“Look! Now you got my hair all wet,” she complained. “You little monster.”

Morgan giggled, trying to splash her again.

“Stop it!” Pepper made a quick step back, laughing. She wrapped the towel around her body, tucking one end of it inside the other to keep it in place, and rewound a smaller towel, turban-style, around her dripping hair. Then she lifted Morgan from the tub, drying her off and dressing her in a blue fluffy bathrobe hanging on the back of the door. “Why don’t you go downstairs while I let the water out of the tub? I won’t be long.”

When she came into the main living area, Morgan was already lying on the sofa, snuggled into a light blanket. Pepper sat down at the edge, stroking the little suntanned face before putting her hand on her sick child’s forehead. Then the thermometer confirmed her suspicion: She still had a fever. Sighing, she went to grab a glass of water and half a pill of acetaminophen.

“Take this, sweetie. That should make you feel better.” She watched her daughter swallow down her medicine. “I’m so sorry, baby.” Pepper said, as she leaned down to kiss Morgan’s hair. Breathing in the scent of her shampoo, she closed her eyes. “You know Mommy would take away all of your pain if she could...” She kissed her temple, brushed the back of her hand across her cheek and looked softly into her eyes.

“Can we watch a movie?”

Nodding, Pepper smiled. “We can watch as many movies as you like.” Then that smile turned into a smirk. “But only if we share the couch.”

“But you can get sick too.”

“I don’t care,” Pepper replied. “I just wanna be with my little girl.”

“But what about work? Daddy said you have a lot of work and if you get sick you can’t work.”

“It’s very sweet of you to think of my business, honey,” Pepper said, chuckling, as she captured a wavering strand of her hair and smoothed it gently over her shoulder, “but if I have to choose between my work and being sick at home with my daughter, you know what I’d choose?”

“Me?” Morgan asked, giggling.

“I’d always choose you.” Pepper smiled.

“What if you have to choose between me and Daddy?” Morgan said with a frown.

“I hope I’ll never have to choose between either of you,” Pepper answered, laughing. “I love you both so much. That’s not a decision I can make.”

“If I had to choose between you and Daddy...” She paused, as though she was really thinking about it, then she continued, “I would choose not to say anything.”

Pepper emitted a soft chuckle. “Now that’s a really smart answer. I guess it means you love us both equally?”

Morgan nodded. “Sometimes I like you more than Daddy and sometimes I like him more than you.”

Pepper raised an eyebrow, smirking. “So, what did I ever do to you for you to like me less than Daddy?”

“You say no a lot.” Morgan emphasized the last word of her sentence by raising her voice, showed her dislike by rolling her eyes dramatically.

Pepper almost burst out laughing. “I’m well aware of the fact your father is a big pushover teddy bear,” she said amused.

“Teddy bear...” Morgan giggled, covering her mouth with one hand.

“He’s the same with me. He just loves us so much, he would do _anything_ for us,” Pepper said with a smile. “We are really lucky to have him.”

“Do you think Daddy is mad at me?”

“Why would he be, darling?”

“Because I didn’t want him.”

Pepper noticed the sad tone in her voice, so she put her hand to Morgan’s head and stroked it in a soothing manner. “He could never be mad at you, Morgan,” she reassured her. “Sometimes a little girl just needs her Mommy. Your daddy understands that.”

“Really?” Morgan sounded hopeful.

“Really,” she answered. “Even Daddy just wants Mommy sometimes,” she added, making Morgan giggle. Settling down next to her daughter on the couch, Pepper draped her arm over Morgan’s body to hold her tight. “Now, what movie do you want to watch, baby?”

“The wedding movie.”

“Daddy's and mine?”

Morgan nodded slightly.

“That’s my favorite movie,” she whispered, a wave of happiness engulfing her as she thought of all the memories, and she smiled, kissing the back of her daughter’s head.

“You look so pretty,” Morgan said quietly when FRIDAY started playing the video of Tony and Pepper’s wedding that Happy had recorded.

Pepper laughed softly. “Thanks, honey.” She had seen the recordings so many times, but every single time she watched the wedding video, she cried. 

Morgan noticed her mother’s tears and took her hand to squeeze it. Then she kissed Pepper’s palm and smiled. “I love you, Mommy.”

“I love you too, sweetheart.”

Towards the end of the video, Morgan was sleeping soundly, and about an hour later, Pepper had fallen asleep, too. She was awakened by the sound of her husband’s voice.

“C’mon, let's get you to bed,” he whispered, as he lifted her from the couch and carried her upstairs.

“What about Morgan?” Pepper mumbled, keeping her eyes closed while he walked.

"Already in bed."

"How was your date?"

“I wanted to strangle him whenever he opened his mouth,” Tony sniffed. “Still do, by the way.”

She laughed out loud, and then looked at him, stroking his cheek. “You know you’re the best husband in the world, don’t you?”

“Only in this world? Or in all worlds?” he quipped, as he lay her down on their bed and leaned over her, with his hands cupped around her face and a smirk on his lips.

“In the whole entire _universe_ ,” Pepper said, smirking back at him.

Tony’s chuckle whispered against her brow as he pressed his lips there. “That sounds better.”

She took his face into her hands and pulled it close so she could kiss him. “Help me out of this towel.”

Pepper had barely finished that sentence when Tony had already ripped the towel from her, taking her in a wild rush of lust and greedy need.


End file.
